NBC: Nothing But Catchers

When Nate Kosher of Runs Produced sent out a Substack invitation to a catcher-only fantasy draft, it made me smile. I was reminded of my high school friend Eric, who joined a fantasy football league exclusive to defensive positions like safety and linebacker. Statistical categories include commonly used ones like runs but also those measuring defense such as assists. Naturally, I told Nate yes.

For those unexperienced with fantasy sports, I recommended checking out my previous story. In a nutshell, participants select players on major league teams and earn points or category wins when their players perform well in real games. It’s a great way to learn about squads other than your own favorites and makes watching the sport even more fun. I rarely play for money, but bragging rights and one’s reputation for sports knowledge are always at stake. On the morning of March 7, we held the draft on Yahoo.

Like pioneering Black baseball executive Rube Foster, I took my task seriously. Some fantasy rankings don’t even list 100 catchers because standard leagues rarely require more than two per team. Often my standard teams only have one consistent backstop. However, I found a solid list on FantasyPros and picked Milwaukee backstop William Contreras with the third overall selection. The Jorge Posadas, which I named after the primary catcher of the Yankees dynasty beginning in the mid-’90s, were off to a flying start. Unfortunately, slugger Cal Raleigh of the Mariners and rising star Ben Rice of the Yankees were already off the board. Still, you could do worse than a guy who hit .260 with 17 homers and 89 runs scored while driving in 76 during the 2025 season.

Nate did his own writeup and noted that I might have drafted the deepest top three catchers. Whether that is true may depend on JT Realmuto, who I drafted with the 19th overall pick. In years past he was considered one of the position’s premier hitters, but in this draft I took Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk with my second selection at 14th overall. Coming off a season in which he amassed 76 RBI and went to the Fall Classic, I figured that Kirk should be a reasonable source of power again in 2026.

It starts getting late early when you are only drafting backstops. My fourth catcher was Danny Jansen of the Rangers, who homered 14 times last season but now splits time with former Yankee backup Kyle Higashioka. After that came Sean Murphy, who is working his way back from hip surgery but has offensive upside. My sixth rounder was Gary Sánchez, another ex-Yankee and the Kraken referenced in the above Player’s Weekend jersey. He’s now the backup in Milwaukee but gets time at first base on occasion as well. Speaking of backups, I grabbed Dalton Rushing 51st overall. He’s a top prospect who would almost certainly have gone higher if he weren’t stuck behind Will Smith in Los Angeles. Finally, I rounded out the draft with Colorado’s Braxton Fulford who has since been sent to the minors.

The first week of competition was brief, but it ended in triumph largely because I got more appearances from my backstops. 7-5 isn’t exactly a rout, but all wins count the same in this league. Contreras has posted a nice OPS of .876 and Sánchez looks to be a potential steal with 3 home runs already. The second week was largely frustrating, as I left my new acquisition and Philadelphia understudy Rafael Marchán on the bench before he homered. Later on the week, Realmuto and Rushing also hit homers while I started 3 other catchers instead. A 9-4 loss evened my record at 1-1, but I learned a couple of lessons along the way.

I had a hunch that Rushing had some more big swings in him. When Dave Roberts started him for two straight games due to starting pitcher preferences, I played him on Monday ahead of Jansen. Jansen had accumulated 6 RBI in the early going, but I went with my gut. Rushing responded with a 4-4 night including two round trippers and three runs in a 14-2 win at Toronto. It was a great start to Week 3, although my opponent countered with homers by the Royals’ Carter Jensen (not to be confused with Jansen) on consecutive days.

Unfortunately, Kirk will be sidelined for six weeks due to a fractured thumb. I now have the Rays’ Hunter Feduccia and Houston’s Christian Vázquez for depth, but I will miss the Toronto stalwart in the meantime. Too bad I can’t go back in time and add Yankee legend Bill Dickey to the roster. Thankfully, Realmuto appeared to avoid serious damage to his foot in a game against the Giants on Tuesday as X-rays were negative.

What have I learned from all this? On one hand, the pool of desirable fantasy catchers like Contreras is fairly shallow. However, you can still get major contributions from unlikely sources. Rushing is a major example of this, not to mention a case of how deep the Dodgers are. After all, outfielder James Tibbs III began the season at AAA hitting .470 with seven homers and has not yet been promoted. At least for now, Rushing is stuck battling World Series hero Smith and four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani for plate appearances, which just doesn’t seem fair.